This proposal is in response to AHRQ RFA-HS-04-010: "Transforming Healthcare Quality Through Information Technology-Planning Grant". Our title: "Regional Approach for THQIT in Rural Settings" partners three rural hospitals-two small hospitals (Sunbury and Shamokin Hospital) with a tertiary medical center (Geisinger Medical Center) and at least two private physician office practices to share health information technology (HIT). Our long term objectives are to: 1) improve the quality of care and patient safety (regardless of which partner's services the patient may be accessing); 2) provide basic clinical information services; 3) improve communication among patients, practices, and hospitals; 4) provide access to an expanding set of HIT services which would otherwise be unavailable to small, rural hospitals; and 5) improve local practice and local hospital viability. [unreadable] [unreadable] This planning grant would enable us to do a formal clinical information and technical needs assessment, identify the optimal technical model for information sharing, and identify barriers and the actions needed to overcome them. We intend to develop a set of relationships and independent governance structures and a project plan that will promote the incremental implementation of a set of cost-effective clinical information services that can be shared among the partners. [unreadable] [unreadable] The partners intend to capitalize on the unique IT experience that Geisinger has to offer in the areas of needs assessment, workflow analysis, IT expertise, and change-management to meet our goals of sharing clinical information that will benefit the patients and the patients' providers. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]